In the distant future, Earth grew tired of the abuse brought to it by humans, and so it shattered itself to pieces. Within seconds of the event, a race of celestial beings appeared and restored the planet's stability. For 100 years afterwards, the beings maintained the planet's integrity from a fortress high in the clouds called Mechanica. Nothing was known about the inhabitants of the Mechanica. That is, until one fell from the sky. Meeting with another fallen being, the two of you work together to find a way back to the clouds.

Controls are quite straightforward and involve the [arrow] keys for movement and one button for jumping. The special abilities you discover are explained as you obtain them, but they're usually very simple things like the double jump or gaining the ability to push blocks. As you progress through the map's distinct, interconnected areas, you'll learn to use your skills in every way possible to get past the game's obstacles and solve the puzzles preventing your progress. The map, found by pressing [enter], will come in very handy.

Even though it looks all cute and inviting, Celestial Mechanica can be a very challenging game. There are two saving graces keeping the old school difficulty from ruining your day: infinite lives, and close proximity respawns. If you die (well, "when you die six times at the same spot"), you simply reappear where you entered the screen. No penalty other than having to do a short spurt of the game over again.

Analysis: Celestial Mechanica is a representative of the growing group of games that borrow from Cave Story, Knytt, and many other sidescrolling action games of a similar ilk. It's all about the adventure, but with a strong influence of exploration, character upgrades, and puzzles that usually involve pressing buttons to move things in the environment. Simple construction, but the results are highly engaging!

The only real issue in the game (unless high difficulty is a problem for you) is the camera in full screen mode. The screen likes to follow you precisely, and when you do a lot of jumping, this can hide parts of the ground below your view, leading to a number of deaths because you couldn't see what was coming. It doesn't seem as jerky when played in window mode, so your mileage may vary, and it's not something you can't get accustomed to by looking before you leap.

Visually, Celestial Mechanica looks like a 16-bit SNES game, which will draw absolutely no complaints from the nostalgic retro crowds among us. Everything looks simple but gorgeous, from the backdrops to the soldiers firing homing missiles at you. The soundtrack by Roger Hicks is also something stunning, and you can listen to it in its entirety as well as purchase for yourself.

With a low price tag and a great presentation, Celestial Mechanica is a sound investment for an afternoon's worth of entertainment. It's great to watch in motion and even better to play!

I'm stuck in the tower into the sky. There's a room with 2 rocket guys and a ramp leading up the left. If you go up the ramp there seems to be an impassable floor of spikes on the right. Anyone else playing/know what to do?

I bought this game a while ago and it's kinda short for the price. It's literally less than an hour long and all the trailers I've seen pretty much show every gimmick and every area without leaving much out, which says a lot considering they're usually only like 3 minutes, if that.

I wouldn't waste my money. You think, "Oh man, this game is gonna be awesome!", but by the time you finish that thought, it's already over and you feel like you missed something.

It's a great looking game with lots of promise, the music and the visuals are fantastic, however the gameplay is ever so slightly awkward and furstrating (including the mentioned camera problem) that lets it down a bit...

I agree with Megafonzie ; Celestial Mechanica really is one of the best indies I every played, but gosh, it is TOO short ! I'd finished it after only one hour, and I really want moar, even now.
I hope it gets expanded somehow, one day.

Well, yes and no. On the one hand, many of the puzzles are downright unsolvable if you don't make full jumps. But on the other, the different jump durations give more control while landing and dodging, and it mitigates the vertical scrolling issue.

also on Jayisgames

>
chrpa—
Just a kindly reminder, it's Wednesday. That means three escape games are here for your fun! All three games are of the same style this week. Shiesuta has locked you up in nice room with garden view, Neat Escape invited...
...

>
Arceus—
In Walls can Bleed, you explore another of Lu Muja's creations, which can be called anything but dead content. Playing as Detective Margh with the aid of your vowelless partner Ghvnn, your aim is to help gun shop owner Bratatat...
...

>
Arceus—
Do you remember when you used to go visit your friend? They lived deep in the woods, just across the old railroad tracks in their house. It was always a long walk to get there but well worth it, even...
...

>
chrpa—
Your Weekday Escape, your relax and your escape from everyday routine is here! MayMay's game is full of puzzles, but there is no reward for solving them, they let you repair and paint your wall only. Tired from painting all...
...

JayIsGames offers a free online experience with the best free online games. You can read our daily honest reviews and walkthroughs, play games, discuss about them. JayIsGames.com is a leading Flash and Online game review site. Since 2003, we review every day only the best, including casual games, flash games, arcade games, indie games, download games, shooting games, escape games, RPG games, puzzle games, mobile games and much more.
Submit a Game: Don't just read reviews or play games on JayIsGames.com, submit them! Submit your game now and we might release it in homepage. Use our game submission form.
Check us back often! We add new games every day and only the best games!